Thursday, February 12, 2009

The Reds' Last Game

The St. Louis Reds play their last game of the season this afternoon at Compton Avenue Park with the Grand Avenue nine as opponents. Turn out in force and give the plucky Ponies a parting bumper.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, October 29, 1876

About 500 people witnessed the game of ball played yesterday afternoon at the Red Stocking Park, between the St. Louis Reds and Solari's Grand Avenue team. The weather was delightful for the sport. It was expected that a real good, close and exciting game would be played, because the Grand Avenue lads have been playing a rattling good game this season, but the result proved otherwise. The professionals had no trouble in running off with their amateur opponents, and when the end of the ninth inning arrived, it was discovered that the Ponies had 28 runs to the Grands' 3. Galvin's pitching was too much of a good thing for the amateurs to get in on, and only one base hit was made off him in the entire game, and that one proved to be a three bagger, which was got in after two men were out and two strikes called. McKenna was the boy who did the business. In the first inning, Whalen made a double play all by himself. Morgan had made a base hit, and stolen to second base, when Croft sent a daisy-cutter towards second, which first gave "Lewis" a knock on the head and bounded into Whalen's palms, and as Morgan had started for third a double play was the result. During the game a fly was sent to right center, and Simpson, the right fielder of the Grands got under it, but failed to hold the ball which bounded at least ten feet towards center field, and was caught while "on the wing" by Smith, and this catch "brought down the house." The Grands were without the services of Zim, their regular pitcher, who is off East, and had he been on hand, the Grands think the game would have turned out a little different, but as the Grands failed to do anything in the batting line, it is hard to see just how the game could have gone differently. The Reds were disappointed in the game, as they really thought they had a nine who would make them work hard to get away with. The Reds did some tall batting, and got in on all the three pitchers the Grands put against them.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, October 30, 1876

This, to the best of my knowledge, is the last game played by the 1873-1876 incarnation of the Red Stockings.

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Welcome To TGOG

The goal of this blog is to tell the story of the history of 19th century St. Louis baseball and to serve as a resource for 19th century baseball researchers. It is, essentially, an online research journal. If you have any comments, criticisms or suggestions, feel free to contact me at thisgameofgames@gmail.com.

The research is, as always, ongoing.

"Baseball is the very symbol, the outward and visible expression of the drive and push and rush and struggle of the raging, tearing, booming nineteenth century." Mark Twain, 1889.